Yellow Staining, Acorbic Acid Works Well, BUT.....

[pilot-werx]

Here is where I am at with the water...

TC: 10ppm
FC: 10ppm
pH: 7.4
alk:120
cya: 100

My chlorine numbers are not going to be all that accurate because I just dumped two gallons of shock in it an hour ago.

I could care less about swimming in it over the next couple of days so I am hoping that by keeping the chlorine hi I can clear it up...

Where I was keeping the chlorine low for a few days, I added some algaecide to help keep the algae away so I am hoping that is not a problem..

The fight goes on!

[pilot-werx]

I also had the analyticals done on my water and copper is the problem to the iron that I originally thought...

[mbar]

Your cya is very high. Is it possible to do a partial drain and refill? You will have to get your chlorine up to 25ppms to shock, and a minimum of 8 just to keep it sanitized. Sometimes after the ascorbic acid treatment the water gets cloudy. A partial drain will help the pool to clear faster, but is your fill water the problem, or do you think the metals came in another way? If it is your fill water you will need to put in more sequestering agent when filling. What is your calcium level? If your calcium level is high and your alkalinity is at the high end you can be getting some fallout from that, which will cloud the water and the only way to get rid of high calcium is to do a partial drain. You can also use skimmer socks. Otherwise you just need more POP - pool owners patience

[pilot-werx]

Well after shocking the pool and adding putting tabs in the skimmer, the pool is clear again but the brown is back again...

Can you please give the name of the best metal out product so I can order it?

Regards and thank you ever so much for your help!

Chris

[mbar]

Proteams Metal Magic is good, Jack's Magic is good, Sequasol. Any one that is strong, or super. They are usually $18 - $24. You will notice that as the chorine level comes down and the ph is low (no higher than 7.4) the stains will start to lighten, and adding the sequestering agent should really make them disappear. Let me know how you do

[CarlD]

Glad the cloudiness cleared up.

I sure hope those weren't Tri-Chlor tabs you put in the skimmer! With your CYA of 100, those are the worst things to use as they will send your CYA into even worse zones.

Remember Marie suggesting you drain and refill to reduce CYA? It will be even more necessary! ALL tri-chlor tabs release large amounts of CYA whether they are listed as "stabilized" or not. Don't use them with your current water situation!.

If, however, you used Cal-Hypo tabs (which I highly doubt) and your calcium hardness level is reasonable, then you'd be fine.

[pilot-werx]

Some good news... With the water cleared up, I added 4 pounds of ascorbic acid followed by two bottles of pro team metal magic and so far this is the best it has looked after a week... fingers crossed...

[waterbear]

People have used citric acid, which is also less expensive, and it seems to work but just takes somewhat longer. I know that oxalic acid is also a reducing agent so in theory it should work, but I don't know how well.

FWIW, oxalic acid is what is used in United Chemical's Pool Stain Treat and Pool Stain Treat spotting bags. I can't really tell a difference in how fast it works compared to Ascorbic acid but Citric does seem to be a bit slower. However oxalic acid is the most toxic of the three with ascorbic acid being the least toxic.

[mbar]

Make sure as you raise your chlorine levels you add more sequestering agent if you see stains coming back. Add the chlorine slowly - that's why I like to add bleach. You can add it in small amounts till you get it where you need it to be.